Slat construction for rolling doors



May 30,; 1944.

N. MICHELMAN SLAT CONSTRUCTION FOR ROLLING DOORS Filed Aug. 13, 1943 Fig. 4

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ATTORN Y Patented May 30, 1944 v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SLAT CONSTRUCTION FOR ROLLING DOORS Nathan Michelman, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application August 13, 1943, Serial No. 498,543

7 Claims. (01. 160-433) This invention generally relates to rolling doors for industrial structures of the type comprising a series of metallic sections or so-called slats assembled to form a flexible door adapted to be wound about a shaft or drum located at the head of the doorway, and is specifically directed to the means for interconnecting and maintaining theslats in relative hinged relation.

In doors of this type, the opposite ends of the slatsare usually provided with coiled portions for engagement with similarly coiled portion of adjacent slats so as to hingedly connect the slats with each other, and means have to be provided for preventing relative longitudinal displacement of the slats, that is relative movement lengthwise of the coiled portions, to maintain the slats in proper assembled relation for satisfactory operation of the door. The means usually employed for this purpose consist in rigid metal members secured by rivets along the opposite side edges of the slats and adapted to abut against the side edges of the interengaged coiled portions; these members, besides adding considerable Weight to the door, have the efiect of stiffening the slats and to prevent them from bending about the cylindrical surface of the drum, as the inherent flexibility of the metal would otherwise allow, with the result that the door, when wound about its drum, takes up cornparatively great space for a given length of door. Other systems that have been proposed for preventing relative movement of the slats, either do not eliminate this objectionable stiffening or have other serious drawbacks that hav prevented their general adoption, such as insecurity of the fastening to the interconnected portions of the slats, complication in construction, etc.

It is the general object of thi invention to provide means adapted to prevent relative iongitudinal movement of the interconnected slat portions without causing any stiffening of the slats, whereby the slats can b wound about the drum substantially in a circle to reduce considerably the space occupied by the door when raised.

It is a further and more specific object of the invention to provide studs secured to one of the interconnected portions of each slat adapted to prevent longitudinal displacement of the interconnected portions relative to one another, and concurrently to provide means whereby relative hinged or pivotal movement of said interconnected portions is allowed.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

In the drawing- Figure 1 is a rear elevation of a rolling door comprising a. series of slats connected to each other according to the invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional view on line 2'-'-'2 of Figurel.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view, on a greater scale, of the interconnected portions of two a'djacent slats showing the means for preventing relative longitudinal movement .of said portions, and the means whereby relative pivotal movement is allowed.

Figure 4 is a view, partly in section, of the same interconnected portions of slats and means of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a rolling door according to the invention, partly "wound about suitable guideway H' arranged at either side of the doorway opening, and adapted to be wound about a drum l2, supported atthe head of the doorway, to which the door is secured in a suitabl manner.

The door is composed of a series of sections or slats l3 made of a suitablematerial such as corrugated sheet metal, and each slat is provided at opposite sides thereof with oppositely I'refer now in particular to Figures 3 and 4' into the coiled portion M at one end thereof.

with its head protruding therefrom, and the shank is fastened to the coiled portion in a suitable manner, for instance by pressing and pinching the side edge of said portion M, as shown at l9 in Figure 4. However, it will be understood that shank I! can be welded to portion M, if desired.

End l3b of the adjacent slat has its coiled portion 20 concentric and juxtaposed with coiled portion M for pivotal movement relative to this latter portion. W'hen portion 20 is rotated about portion It to bring about this pivotal movement, the longitudinal or free edge of portion 20 is moved along the inner face of portion I4; as flange l8 would otherwise prevent this movement because the longitudinal edge of portion 20 would be stopped by the flange and the wall of slat end l3a, a cut-out 2| is provided in said portion 2 as shown in Figure 3, said outout extending longitudinally of portion 20 to a point beyond the shank [1.

An identical arrangement to that described and illustrated in Figures 3 and 4, is provided at the opposite end of the interconnected coiled portions. In assembling the two slats, the stud will be first secured to coiled portion l4, coiled portion 20 will then be connected to portion l4, and finally a second stud will be inserted into portion H at the opposite end thereof, and secured thereto in the manner described.

It is evident that the two studs will prevent longitudinal displacement of the coiled portions relative to each other, thereby maintaining the slats in proper assembled relation. while the coiled portions, and therefore the slats, are allowed relative pivotal movement as desired. The arrangement of the parts is such that each slat is allowed a swing of 90, or, in other words, each slat can pivotally move to form an angle of 90 with the adjacent slat; therefore when the door is rolled up, the slats can easily dispose themselves substantially in a circle, and the door will occupy only about half the space required by conventional devices. Furthermore, the fact that the slats are permitted a swing of 90 together with the absence of any device resulting in the stiffening of the slats, permit the sections of the door to straighten out as soon as they leave the drum, as shown in Figure 5.

While I have described my invention more or less specifically with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood that many modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or exceeding the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. In a rolling door, a plurality of slats, oppositely coiled portions formed at the sides of each of said slats, studs fastened to one of the coiled portions of each slat at the opposite ends thereof and having portions in abutment with the end edges of said coiled portion, the coiled portion of one slat being concentric with and juxtaposed to the oppositely coiled portion of the adjacent slat and this latter coiled portion being provided with cut-outs at the opposite ends thereof to facilitate its pivotal movement relative to the stud-carrying coiled portion, the abutting portions of the studs preventing relative longitudinal movement of the coiled portions.

2. In a rolling door, a plurality of slats, oppositely coiled portions formed at the sides of each of said slats, studs fastened to one of the coiled portions of each slat at the opposite ends thereof and having enlarged heads protruding therefrom, the coiled portion of one slat being concentric with and juxtaposed to the oppositely coiled side portion of an adjacent slat and the heads of said studs preventing relative longitudinal movement of the interengaged coiled portions, said coiled side portion of the adjacent slat being provided with cut-outs at the opposite ends thereof to facilitate pivotal movement of said coiled portion relative to the stud-carrying coiled portion.

3. In a rolling door, a plurality of slats, oppositely coiled portions formed at the sides of each of said slats, studs fastened to one of the coiled portions of each slat at the opposite ends thereof and having enlarged heads protruding therefrom, the coiled portion of one slat being concentric with and juxtaposed to the opposite y coiled portion of an adjacent slat and the heads of the studs preventing relative longitudinal movement of the coiled portions, said coiled portion of the adjacent slat being provided with cut-outs at the opposite ends thereof to facilitate pivotal movement of said coiled portion relative to the stud-carrying coiled portion, whereby the adjacent slats are maintained in fixed longitudinal relation to one another while being allowed relative pivotal movement.

4. In a rolling door, a plurality of slats, oppositely coiled portions formed at the sides of each of said slats, studs comprising shanks mounted within and fastened to one of the coiled portions of each slat at the opposite ends thereof and enlarged heads protruding therefrom, the coiled portion of one slat being concentric with and juxtaposed to the oppositely coiled side portion of an adjacent slat, and the heads of said studs preventing relative longitudinal movement of the coiled portions, said coiled portion of the adjacent slat being provided with cut-outs at the opposite ends thereof extending longitudinally of the coiled portion to points beyond the ends of the shanks of said studs to facilitate pivotal movement of said coiled portion relative to the stud-carrying coiled portion.

5. In a rolling door, a plurality of slats, oppositely coiled portions formed at the sides of each of said slats, studs extending into one of the coiled portions of each slat from the opposite end edges thereof and having enlarged heads protruding therefrom, the coiled portion of one slat being concentric with and juxtaposed to the oppositely coiled portion of an adjacent slat for relative pivotal movement, and this latter coiled portion being provided with cut-outs extending longitudinally from the opposite ends thereof to points beyond the ends of the studs to allow the longitudinal edge of the coiled portion to pass between the studs during its pivotal movement relative to the stud-carrying coiled portion, the heads of the studs preventing relative longitudinal movement of the coiled portions.

6. In a rolling door, a plurality of undulated slats, oppositely coiled portions formed at the sides of each of said slats, studs fastened to one of the coiled portions of each slat and extending into said portion from the oppsite ends thereof, the coiled portion of one slat being concentric with and juxtaposed to the oppositely coiled portion of an adjacent slat for relative pivotal movement, and this latter coiled portion being provided with cut-outs extending longitudinally from the opposite ends of the portion to points beyond the ends of the studs to allow the longitudinal edge of the portion to pass between the studs to move along the inner face of the studcarrying coiled portion during its pivotal movement relative to the stud-carrying portion, thestuds preventing relative longitudinal movement of the coiled portions.

'7. A slat construction for rolling doors comprising a series of undulated sections, each having a convolution of small diameter at one side thereof and a convolution of larger diameter at the other side, the adjacent sections being inter- 1ocked by juxtaposition of the small convolution of one section within the larger convolution of the adjacent section, means for firmly maintaining the convolutions in juxtaposed concentric relation to one another, comprising studs fastened to the smaller convolution at the opposite ends thereof and having portions in abutment with the end edges of the interlocked convolutions, and out-outs at the opposite ends of the larger convolution to facilitate the pivotal movement of this latter relative to the smaller convolution.

NATHAN MICHELMAN. 

